NHL ROUNDUP: Vokoun is flawless as Pittsburgh Penguins blank New York Rangers

Friday, February 1, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — Tomas Vokoun stopped 28 shots for his 49th NHL shutout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored on the first shot of the first and third periods in a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins the lead just 1:24 in, James Neal added a power-play goal 28 seconds into the third — after another costly too many men on the ice penalty for the Rangers — and Simon Despres netted his second NHL goal to give Pittsburgh (4-3) its second win in five games.

Malkin added an assist, as did captain Sidney Crosby, on Neal’s goal. Pittsburgh is winless at home but 4-1 on the road. The Penguins have two wins in New York this season, one fewer than the host Rangers (3-4), who had won three of four overall.

New York struggled to generate offense in its first game without captain Ryan Callahan, expected to be sidelined 10-14 games by a shoulder injury sustained Tuesday in a win against Philadelphia.

SABRES 7, BRUINS 4BOSTON (AP) — Thomas Vanek had three goals and two assists, setting up the tiebreaking score with 13:06 left in the third period to lead Buffalo over Boston.

Vanek opened the scoring 98 seconds into the game, then had a goal and an assist to tie it after Boston took a 3-1 lead in the second. The Bruins went up 4-3 in the third before Alexander Sulzer tied it, and then Vanek helped give the Sabres the lead with a pass to Cody Hodgson for the game-winner.

Vanek completed his eighth career hat trick with 1:31 left. He has 54 points in 46 career games against the Bruins.

Brad Marchand scored two goals and Rich Peverley and David Krejci had one apiece for Boston (5-1-1), which was trying to equal the best start in franchise history.

ISLANDERS 5, DEVILS 4, OTNEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Brad Boyes scored a power-play goal on a rebound at 2:01 of overtime and New York handed New Jersey its third straight loss in overtime.

John Tavaras scored twice, and Keith Aucoin and Mark Streit once for the Islanders, who avenged an opening-night loss to the Devils. Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves, including a big one on an early Devils power play in overtime.

Adam Henrique, Steve Bernier, Ryan Carter and Henrik Tallinder scored for the Devils, who three times rallied to tie it. Martin Brodeur made 30 saves but had the puck stolen from him by Boyes, setting up the game-winner.

Kulemin tied it 2-all at 7:40 of the third, poking in a puck that squeezed through goalie Michal Neuvirth’s legs following Michael Kostka’s shot from the point. Frattin made it 3-2, capping a nice passing play with Nazem Kadri at 9:53 by tapping in the puck for his fourth goal — and sixth point — in four games.

James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Maple Leafs (4-3-0), who outshot Washington 40-22.

Alex Ovechkin and Joel Ward had goals for the Capitals (1-5-1), winless on the road.

PANTHERS 6, JETS 3SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Alex Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal during Florida’s five-goal outburst in the third period, helping the Panthers rally for a victory over Winnipeg.

Kris Versteeg, Peter Mueller, Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Kopecky also scored in the final frame for the Panthers, who had four unanswered goals in the final 8:40 after falling behind 3-2. Brian Campbell also scored and Jose Theodore stopped 21 shots to help Florida snap a five-game losing streak with its first win since the season opener on Jan. 19.

Tobias Enstrom, Olli Jokinen and Grant Clitsome scored as the Jets dropped their second in a row following a three-game win streak. Ondrej Pavelev had 28 saves for Winnipeg.

AVALANCHE 6, FLAMES 3CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Paul Stastny scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

John Mitchell and P.A. Parenteau also each had two goals and an assist for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Matt Duchene and Jamie McGinn both added a pair of assists.

Jiri Hudler had two goals and an assist in a losing cause for the Flames, who hadn’t played since beating Edmonton 4-3 at home last Saturday. Alex Tanguay had the other goal for the Flames, while Matt Stajan added two assists.

In his first start of the season for the Avalanche, Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 25 of 28 shots to pick up the win.